MotoGP | Andalucia GP | Race: Quartararo strikes again as Rossi comes back on the podium
MotoGP gave again big surprises in the second race of the season at Jerez where Fabio Quartararo won again making 2 out of 2 followed by Maverick Vinales and Valentino Rossi, but what a shame for Francesco Bagnaia! The Italian had an engine failure while he was 2nd, same for Franco Morbidelli while he was 4th
Fabio Quartararo is the man to beat at the moment as the French dominated again at Jerez de la Frontera winning a solitary race where his leadership was never in doubt. Petronas Yamaha SRT started from first and never left his lead, while behind him we had a lot of big twists.
Valentino Rossi and Maverick Vinales fought at the start for 2nd, but it was Francesco Bagnaia the fastest guy on track together with Fabio Quartararo and Pramac Ducati rider did not have any problem on jumping into 2nd position, while Franco Morbidelli put himself in 4th overtaking Maverick Vinales.
Bagnaia started to create a consistent gap then on Rossi, Morbidelli and Vinales, but when he had a comfortable margin, the Italian suffered an engine failure which forced him to stop. A real shame for 2018 Moto2 World Champion who was taking his first MotoGP podium.
Just before Bagnaia’s problem, Franco Morbidelli had to retire for the same reason giving up his chances to be on the podium, while Jack Miller crashed while fighting for top 3. That meant Valentino Rossi and Maverick Vinales almost on the podium, but it was still to decide the order.
The Spaniard stayed behind the Italian until 2 laps to go despite he tried some overtakes, but in the final stages of the race he made the decisive move to take the 2nd position, not giving any chance to his teammate to replicate.
We had to 3 Yamahas on the podium, with Valentino Rossi who came back into top 3 after 2019 Americas GP. Fabio Quartararo made 2 out of 2, while Maverick Vinales got another 2nd place conquering important points for the championship.
Takaaki Nakagami ended in 4th ahead of Joan Mir, with Andrea Dovizioso 6th and Pol Espargaro 7th. Alex Marquez ended in 8th, Johann Zarco 9th and Alex Rins 10th. Tito Rabat 11th, Bradley Smith 12th and Cal Crutchlow 13th. Misfortune for Miguel Oliveira who crashed at the start being involved in a contact with Brad Binder, who stayed up but crashed later. Danilo Petrucci and Aleix Espargaro crashed as well during the race.